By close reference to any two scenes, discuss Shakespeare's dramatic presentation of contrasting attitudes to love in Romeo and Juliet.

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Shakespeare/Pre- 1914 Drama: Romeo and Juliet

By close reference to any two scenes, discuss Shakespeare's dramatic presentation of contrasting attitudes to love in Romeo and Juliet. You should comment on the significance of aspects such as:

* Structure and context;

* Language and imagery;

* Audience response, bearing in mind and commenting on the social and cultural background of the play.

Romeo and Juliet has remained a very popular play ever since 1595 when it was first performed. One of the reasons for the play's lasting recognition is that one of its main focuses is on love. We are presented with many different versions of love throughout the play, of which there are at least four; courtly love, sexual love, dutiful love and true love. To demonstrate contrast between different attitudes to love, I am going to compare Romeo's unrequited 'love' to Rosaline in act 1 scene 1 with Romeo and Juliet's true and inevitable love at their wedding in act 2 scene 6.

When Romeo first believes himself to be in love with Rosaline, his idea of love seems to be very conventional. We can see this from the language